wedding dress
Callista Miralni

I hate plot bunnies!

This is my summer project. I've summarized the whole thing on my iPad; now it's time to type it all out. I don't know how long it's gonna be... I'm just kinda rolling with it [like that ever does me good].

Inspiration music by BIGBANG! Each chapter will have a theme song [the chapter title] from their vast discography. I will post the English translation, rather than the lyrics in the original language, for ease of reading. And I will be tweaking the translation for poetic means. And there's a tracklist for each chapter, music that inspired certain scenes [or whatever I'm listening to while writing XD].

Posted in honor of SasuSaku month! It's two days late, but that's what happens when you go up to the lake for the holiday. :/

Prompt: Change

Chapter Tracklist:

- Wedding Dress, piano cover by smrr00 [check youtube for a recording]

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the music.

Chapter One: Wedding Dress

This was definitely the hardest thing she could have ever asked from him.

"Sasuke-kun! Play for me!"

Resting his forehead against the keyboard lid of the grand piano in his studio apartment, he could feel something round and cold inside his jeans pocket dig into his thigh. Groaning, Uchiha Sasuke drummed his fingers against the music stand, willing himself to pull himself together and just play goddammit.

Isn't that why she asked? Because she knows he's a musician and he is her self-professed favorite star?

Her bright smile filled his mind.

And immediately, he began to play.

Sasuke really knew how to torture himself. He perfected the requested piece overnight, finishing it during the long hours spent in practice.

It was a special song, one that had no words. He played it for her once and she commented that it sounded like a wedding march.

"The perfect wedding march for me!" She exclaimed giddily.

At the time—almost a year ago—he smiled and ruffled her hair, reminding her he had to finish writing it first. As he practiced, words began to take shape in his mind. Occasionally, he would stop to write them down before rushing back to his practice.

This would be his farewell. After tonight, he swore to keep his distance.

Memories haunted him as his fingers ran through what would be the first verse. Her rose hair gleamed in the moonlight as sobs shook her frame.

"Why is he such a jerk Sasuke-kun?" She cried.

He had no answer, preferring to savor the moment he held her in his arms.

"And you know what I hate the most?" She looked up at him.

"What?"

Please don't say it, his heart begged, please don't.

She smiled bitterly.

"I'm in love with him."

Sasuke felt his world shatter around him.

"Why?" He finally said.

She sighed. "I don't know. It would have been easier to fall in love with you."

At this he chuckled darkly. If only she knew—he thought wryly—if only she knew.

"I can't help being amazing like that." He retorted.

She punched him in the shoulder, barely inflicting damage. "You're full of it." She told him fondly.

The next morning, he woke up and crawled out of bed. Methodically, he put on his dress clothes.

First—the recently ironed pants. Shortly followed by a matching black leather belt.

Then, the starched linen shirt. He made sure to button up the sleeves using the cufflinks she gave him on his eighteenth birthday.

The ring he always wore on his left pinky caught the early morning light shining through the shafts of his blinds.

Finally, he pulled on the black vest, opting to leave his jacket behind at home. Besides, Tokyo summers were unbearable. Sasuke wouldn't need it.

He checked the time on his watch. Gathering up his sheet music (as he was to play not only the wedding march, but the prelude and exit music as well), Sasuke double checked his appearance one last time in the mirror before leaving.

The cab dropped him off across the street from the church. Paying the driver, he ignored the stares he was receiving from the group of college women across the street. With his music tucked under one arm, he walked across.

The guests were milling about outside and a few of them stopped to say hello. He greeted them easily and offered an encouraging smirk to the groom.

But Sasuke didn't stay long. Entering the church and running into her mother, he ran through the customary greetings once again before something white caught his eye. Turning, he finally saw her.

She caught his eye and smiled, waving him over. Forcing a smile on his lips, he approached her.

"You look great."

Her smile broadened. "The tight-lipped Uchiha Sasuke can't even pay a proper compliment to his best friend on her wedding day. How sad." She teased him.

He smirked. "I could have said you looked terrible."

"And that would have been a blatant lie."

"Does it matter?"

He wanted to burn that dress so badly it hurt.

To his luck, her father came by and waved for Sasuke to take his place inside the church. He wished her good luck, dropping a chaste kiss on her cheek.

As he seated himself behind the piano, effortlessly playing the assigned prelude, his thoughts began to wander. Why him? Why did he have to fall in love with the one woman he could never have?

They were always close—hanging out, confiding in each other, stealing each other's food. As he endured his brutal training music training before his debut with Konoha Entertainment and her time-consuming modeling with Oto Entertainment, they always managed to find time for each other.

Somewhere along the way, he fell.

And down that same path, she fell too.

Only, it wasn't with him.

Sasuke almost missed the cue to play the wedding march. Her eyes lit up when she heard the opening notes, delighted that her best friend indulged her again on one of her whims. And yet, she wasn't listening past the fifth measure. The man standing in front of the altar occupied her thoughts while Sasuke's music floated in the background.

Her smiled brightened when she took her place beside him.

Sasuke played the final note and sat behind the piano glumly. The couple ran through their vows but he paid no attention to them. The sound of applause brought him back to reality and he looked up in time to see the happy couple break apart from their marital kiss.

She motioned for him to play.

He played, letting his voice echo through the natural acoustics of the cathedral. Years of vocal training taught him how to project, how to hold and stagger his breath. Her favorite love song serenaded the pair as they left the church, laughing as rice and flower petals pelted them from all sides.

As they drove off in a rented limo to the reception, Sasuke gathered his sheet music. Tucking it under one arm and shoving that hand into his pocket, his fingers found something cool and round. Pulling it out, he found the ring.

The memory of that night—the night he planned to propose to her, only to have the groom beat him to it as he frantically searched his many pockets for that dratted item—left a bitter scowl on his face.

"Sasuke!" Nagasaki Tenten waved him over to a waiting car. "C'mon! You can catch a ride with me!"

Resigning himself to a seat in Tenten's car, Sasuke tried to pull himself together again. The car halted in front of the hotel and a valet opened the door for them. Quickly, he and Tenten found the secluded table in the back corner, where some of their mutual friends sat with a stranger. The hall was noisy and packed with people.

Even though they left before everyone else, the bride and groom were the last to arrive. A spotlight shone on the entrance as her sister took the mic and joyfully announced,

"Introducing-! Hoshizuki Suigetsu and the new Hoshizuki Karin!"

He hated that white wedding dress she wore.